Film-actuating shuttle and teeth.



A, s. HOWELL. FILM ACTUATI'NG SHUTTLE AND TEETH.

l APPLICATION FAILED FEB. I3. |915. 1,23,520

Patented Aug. 28, 1917.

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A. s. HOWELL. l y FILM ACTUATING SHUTTLE MID TEETH. V APPLICATION FILED FEB. I3, I9l5. 1,238,520, Patented Aug.A 28, 1917` 4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

A. S. HOWELL.

FILM ACTUATING SHUTTLE AND TEETH. APPLxcATloN FILED FEB.'\3,'1915.

i,2352., Patent@ 28,1917

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A. S. HUWELL.

FILM ACTUATING SHUTTLE AND TEETH.

APPLICATION msn rss. 13. 1915.

Patented Aug. 28, 1917.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

` m 35. ym

lllllltllil HEATH@ PATENT MBRTS. HWELL, F CIIHIGAGO,` ILLNOS, ASSIGNR, T BELL it HGWELL CMPMT,

i 0F CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION GF LLEXTSQ nasasao.

To all lw/"Lom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, ALBERT S. HOWELL, a citizen of :the United States, and resident of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful improvements in Filmeetuating Shuttles and rleetli7 of which the following is a full, clear7 and exact specification.

My present invention relates to cinematographic apparatus and more particularly to the actuating shuttle and 'teeth for moving a iilm of ribbon past an aperture for the purpose of taking, printing or projectlng a se* ries of views.

The primary object of my present invention is the provision of suitable novel means for registering or forming the film in front of an aperture, and. for moving said hlm past said aperture. Another object is the provision ot means adapted to grasp the film .rmly during its movement. Another object of my invention is to provide mechanism for securing a registry of Jthe perforations of superimposed or parallel ilms When my film moving mechanism is employed in a printing machine. Still other objects ot my invention are the provision of a film actuating mechanism that is e'ective and accurate in its operation, easy to manipulate and' constructed of a minimum number oi parts.

rlhe above and other objects l prefer to accomplish by the means and in the manner hereinafter fully described and as more particularly pointed out in the claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specication, in which,

Figure l is a vertical elevation of my invention, a portion of the shuttle and teeth being shown in central transverse section to better disclose the location and; construction of the parts.

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of my invention detached from the machine.

Fig. 3 is a detail elevation of the shuttle actuating lever and one of the frames for carrying the picks or teeth.

Figs. Il, 5 and 6 are side elevations of my invention shown somewhat diagrammatically to illustrate three successive steps in the movement of the shuttle and picks or teeth.

Fig. 7 is a plan vieu7 of' the picks or teeth removed from the machine and drawn to a greatly enlarged scale to illustrate their con- ...www

,lilith struction and manner of engagement with the Elm pertorations the purpose of? marginal control.

F ig. 8 is an enlarged vievv of a fragment of standard perforated nlm illustrating the manner oit t the V therein and the 1 mer oi const. f picks or teeth in transverse section.

Fig. 9 is an enlarged perforated .ilin tions oit the i ichs therewith latter, and

Fig. l() is a similar vievv showing the relai tive positions ot the picks or teethv after separation tor the purpose of securing registry through the control oi? the lm by the lln the drawings, similar reference characters indicate the same parts throughout the various views.J and tor the purpose of clearness all parts of the apparatus to which my invention is applied have been omitted excepting the :Front Wall A thereof and the aperture therein past which the l'ihn is adapted 'to be moved intermittently'.

Preferably below the aperture a recess or chamber C in which my invention is mounted and the sides of said compartment are provided with vertically disposed channels or grooves D that provide guidewaye for the shuttle.

The shuttle comprises a substantially rectangular frame the vertically disposed side members l5 oi which are arranged parallel prior to the separatinp with each other and entend into and are' reciprocated in said guide Ways D A bach plate 16 connects the side members 15 and is provided `vith laterally disposed rearwardly extended bearing bases JZ' for journaling `transverse rock shaft 18 upon which a pitman 19 is pivotally mounted intermediate of the the margin of its ends. lllhe lower end of pitman 19 en tends to and is secured upon a crank-pin 20 projecting from one of the faces oi a continuously rotatable cam or disk 2l carried 'by the adiacent end or? a driveshatt 22 that is Journaled in horizontal bearings in the Walls A. From the above it will be seen that the continuous rotation of disk 2l will reciprocate the shuttle Ilo-1G vertieft in its gindeways, at the same time imparting a rocking motion to the end ol the pitman above its pivot llining be? 23, protect .1^

lflll the outer faces of the shuttle side members 15, to provide journals for a hori'zontally disposed rock shaft 24: that is provided intermediate its ends with a vertlcally d1sposed arm 25. The upper ortion of this arm 25 is substantially T-s raped and the ends of the horizontal cross-piece 26 thereof have short parallel ngers `27, 27, extended vertically therefrom adjacent the facing edges of the side members 15 of the shuttle frame. A cross pin 28 is insertedV transversely through arm 25 and rigidly retained therein in a horizontal plane below and parallel with the cross piece 26 and is so disposed that its ends are ada ted to contact' the adjacent ends of latera stops 29, 29, projecting inwardly toward each other fromthe contiguous side members 15.4 A shallow recess-or depression is formed in the shuttle frame between the side members for the seating and securing of a pair of flat leaf springs 30, the upper portion .of winch springs extend to and bear against the cross pin 28 to keep the same normally pressed toward the stops 29.

. Secured in .any suitable manner upon the upper surface of cross piece 26 is a horizon,.-

vtally disposed elongated plate 31.7 the ends of which terminate adjacent the vertical ngers 27 where said plate is provided withl outwardly projecting horizontally disposed parallel teeth or picks 32 that are so con'- s'tructed and arranged that, when the arm 25 is in the position shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings, said teeth will enter perforations upon the opposite edges of the film.

Above the plate 31 and between the fiugers 27 is mounted a coperating tooth'or pick carrier' that comprises a substantiall T-shaped lever the vertical arm 33 of whic is disposed to the rear of the arm 25 and the cross piece 34 of which is disposed in a' horizontal plane and provided with parallel teeth or picks 35, 35, that preferably extend forwardly between and adjacent to fingers 27 to about the same vertical plane as the lower set of teeth 32 above mentioned. .This lever is mounted upon a pin 36 that passes transversely through the fingers 27 and through said teeth 35 so as to permit the pivotal. movement of said lever there-4 on. Adjacent its lower end the vertical armV 33 of the lever is connected to the upper end of coiled contraction springs 37 the opposite ends of which springs are connected to a transverse pin 38 secured through the arm 25 adjacent its lower end. The tendency of springs 37 is to pull the lower end of the vertical arm 33 of the lever toward and in contact with arm 25 and lin order to t limit the opposite movement of said arm 33 l provide a substantially L-shaped stop 39 upon the arm 35, the upturned inner end 40 of which is disposed in the path of movement of the lower end of said arm 33.

stop 39. This causes the member 34 to rock naasten -the pitman 19 to have a sliding movement with' relation to said link before actuating the latter and when the pin 43 carried by said lever reaches the end of the slot farther from the picks it will pull the link thereby moving the arm until the lower end of the latter engages the upturned end 40 of the j upon the pin: 36 and the teeth or picks 36, 36 to bemoved toward the teeth or picks 32, for the purpose of disengaging the same from the film when the teeth are to be withdrawn. The continued rearward motion or pull on the upper end of the pitman 19 is adapted to bodily move the upper end of `the arm 25 from the lm upon its pivot or rock shaft-24- and thereby withdraw the teeth from the. film perforations as indicated clearly in Fig. 6 of the drawings. Further rotation of the camor disk 2l is adapted through the medium of the crank pin 20, to move the pitman19 bodily in a' vertical direction, and as the journals of said pitman are mounted upon the shuttle frame members said shuttle frame is reci rocated bodily in the guideways D. When said disk 21 is rotated in the direction indicated by the arrows, the movement of the `100 shuttle frame succeeding the .withdrawal of d the teeth is upward until the pin 20 reaches.

its highest point. At the center of the upward journey the upper end of the lever 19 commences to move toward the film. In its 105 continued movement toward thevlilm of the'4 110' upper end of pitman 19 permits vthe springs 37 to pull the'lower end of the arm 33 toward the film which causes the teeth 35 to rock on the ivot*36 and thereby separate from the teet 32 which forces the teeth 32 115 and 35 adjacent opposite sides of adjacent perforations thereby causing the film to accurately register with the aperture B, when superimposed films are used as in a printing machine securesan accurate registration in the respective films.

The slot 42 permits .a further forward movement of the upper end of the lever 19, while the shuttle is completing its downward journey without disturbing the relation of the teeth 32 and 35.

In the course of developing and drying of a film after printing there is a minute longitudinal and transverse shrinkage.

'shrinkage with respect to a single perfora 130 tion, or adjacent perforation on the same side of the lm is negligible, but the shrink-- age between opposite perforations and between perforations separated from each other upon the same side must be taken into account.

In order to take care of this inherent fea-v ture I prefer to construct the teeth or picks of a transverse contour substantially as shown in Figs. 7 to l0 of the drawings, wherein it will be observed one of the teeth, designated as X, has its top and bottom edges flat and parallel to engage the top and bottom edges of the perforation while itsside edges are chamfered at to tightly iit the curvature of the sides w1 of the perforations X1 either at the top or bottom thereof. The opposite tooth Y engaging the perforation Y1 upon the oppositelongitudinal edge of the film, is slightly less in width than tooth X, to accommodate the transverse shrinkage above referred to, and is chamfered at its sides 12,/ to correspond with the curvature of the sides y1 of the perforations engaged thereby. Both teeth are preferably as thick vertically as onehalf the height of the perferations in order to permit of the easy insertion of the teeth and of the relative movement of the teeth in the manner hereinbefore described. It appears from the foregoing that the separation of the teeth as heretofore described will secure an accu- Gil rate transverse relation betwen the perforations and the aperture B and that the snugly fitting teeth X `will secure a dependable longitudinal relation between `the film and the aperture B while the somewhat smaller teeth Y will take care of the transverse shrinkage in developed film. It will alsobe apparent that the teeth or picks herein described may be used equally well with undeveloped film in which no shrinkage has occurred or with a developed and an undeveloped film superimposed as is necessary in a printing machine. While I' have herein `disclosed and illustrated certain specific means for carrying out my invention it of course will be obvious to others skilled' in the vart that numerous modificationsv or refinements thereofv are possible without materially departing from the spirit of my invention. ll therefore, desire it understood that all such changes are contemplated within the scope of my invention as expressed in the appended claims. l also desire it understood that the principles and construction herein disclosed are equally applicable to `any type of machine in which a ribbonof perforated nlm is used, whether for the taking of the pictures as with a cinematograph camera), the printing of the positive from the negative lilm. or the projection of the positive film` and l therefore do not limit myself to any particular type of such apparatus.

-aaien member and devices for changing the relative distance between said teeth.

3. In mechanism for moving perforated film. a reciprocable shuttle, teeth adapted to e be moved into and ont of engagement with the perforations of a film, a device pivot ally carried by said shuttle upon which said teeth are mounted, one of said teeth being movable independently of said device, and' means for moving said device relative to said shuttle and for reciprocating the latter.

el. ln mechanism for moving perforated film a reciprocable shuttle and means for actuating the same, teeth carried by said shuttle and adapted to be moved into and out of engagement with the perforations cf a iilm, and devices connecting said teeth and shuttle actuating means for movinof said teeth relatively to said shuttle and adapted to move one of said teeth independently of said device.

5. ln mechanism for moving perforated film a reciprocalole shuttle and means for actuating the same, an arm pivoted on and carried by said shuttle, teeth mounted on said arm and movable therewith into and out of engagement with the perforations of a lm, and devices connecting said arm and teeth to said shuttle actuating means for moving the same.

6. In mechanism for moving perforated film, a reciprocable shuttle, an arm pivotally carried thereby, independently movable sets of teeth mounted on said arm, and means for reciprocating said shuttle that is ada ted to move said arm toward and away rom a ilm at predetermined intervals. 7. In mechanism for moving perforated film, a reciprocable shuttle, a vibratory arm pivotally carried thereby, teeth mounted on said rarm and movable into and ont of en- ,gagement with the perforation of a film,

movable with said shuttle, and means con .lll

necting said pitman to said arm whereby the latter is reciprocated by said pitman independent of said shuttle.

9. In mechanism for moving perforated film, a'reciprocable shuttle, a vibratory arm pivotally carried thereby, teeth mounted on said arm and movable into and out of engagement with the perforation of a ilm,'a bodily movable pitman journaled on said shuttle and adapted to actuate said arm, and devices for imparting a vibratory motion to said pitman and bodily reciprocating the same simultaneously with said shuttle.

10. In mechanism for moving perforated film, a reciprocable shuttle, a member pivoted at one end thereon, a tooth mounted on said member and stationary relative thereto, a second tooth pivotally mounted on said member and capable of movement independent thereof, and actuating elements including a vibratory device pivotally mounted on Said shuttle for reciprocating the latter and one end of which is connected to and adapted to actuate said arm and pivoted tooth.

l1. In mechanism for moving perforated film, a reciproca-ble shuttle, a member pivoted at one end thereon, a tooth mounted on said member and stationary relative thereto, a second tooth pivotally mounted on said member and capable of movement independent thereof, and actuating elements including a pitman fulcrumed intermediate its ends on said shuttle for reciprocating the latter and one end of which is connected to and adapted to actuate said arm and pivoted OOth. e

l2. In mechanism for moving perforated film, a reciprocable shuttle, a member pivoted at one end thereon, a tooth mounted on said member and stationary relative thereto, a second tooth pivotally mounted on said member and capable of movement independent thereof, a vibratory device pivotally mounted on and carried by said shuttle for reciprocating the latter and one end of which is connected to and adapted to actuate said arm and pivoted tooth, and means for vibrating said device consisting of a rotatable disk to which said device is eccentrically connected.

18. In mechanism for moving perforated film, a reciprocable shuttle, a member pivoted at one end thereon, a set of horizontally alining teeth mounted on said member and stationary relative thereto, a second set of horizontally7 alining teeth pivotally mounted on said member and capable of movement independent thereof, a vibratory device pivotally mounten on said vshuttle for reciprocating the latter and one end of which is connected to and adapted to ac- .tuate said arm and pivoted teeth, and means for vibrating said device.

14. In mechanism for moving perforated reeatae film, a reciprocable shuttle, a member pivoted at one end thereon, a set of horizontally alining teeth mounted on said member and stationary relative thereto, a second set of horizontally alining teeth pivotally mounted on said member and capable of movement independent thereof, a vibratory device pivotally mounted on said shuttle for reciprocating the latter and one end of which is connected to and adapted to actuate said arm and pivoted teeth,v and means for vibrating said device consisting of a rotatable disk to which said device is eccentrica-Hy connected.

15. In mechanism for moving perforated film, a reciprocable shuttle, a vertically disposed vibratory pitman journaled thereon and bodily movable therewith, a crank engaging the lower end of said pitman adapted to vibrate the latter and simultaneously raise and lower the same, a tooth bearing arm pivoted on and carried by saidshuttle and movable toward and aw ay from the film, upper and lower teeth mounted on said arm, and means connecting one of said teeth to the adjacent end of said pitman whereby the vibratory motion of the latter causes one of said teeth to move away from its companion tooth after entering the perforated iilm and to move toward said companion tooth prior to their withdrawal from said film.

16. A mechanism for moving perforated film, a reciprocable shutter, a vertically disposed vihratory pitman journaled thereon and bodily movable therewith, a crank engaging the lower end of said pitman adapted to vibrate the latter and simultaneously raise and lower the same, atooth bearing arm pivoted on and carried by said shuttle and movable toward and away from the film, upper and lower vertically alining sets of teeth mounted on said arm, and means connecting one of said sets of teeth to the'adjacent end of said pitman wherebyv the vibratory motion of` the latter causes one of said sets of -teeth to move away from its companion sets of teeth after entering the perforated film and to move toward said companion sets of'teeth prior to their withdrawal from said lm.

1T. In mechanism for moving perforated film, a reciprocable shuttle, a vertically disposed vibratory pitman journaled thereon and bodily movable therewith, a crank engaging the lower end of said pitman adapted to vibra/te the latter and raise and lower'the same, an arm on said shuttle pivoted to move transversely thereto toward and away from the film, a tooth mounted on and movable with said arm, a second tooth pivoted on said arm and capable of independent movement upon its pivot, and a link connecting said pivoted tooth to the adjacent portion of said pitman.

teeth after entering saidperforations, and

for moving said upper set of teeth toward said lower set of teeth prior to withdrawal from said perforations.

3l. In mechanism for moving film provided with perforations upon its longitudinal edges, a reciprocable shuttle provided with two oppositely arranged teeth adapted tqengage opposite perforations in l i' pablo of movement independently of their therespective margins of the film and ca- -movement with said shuttle, one of said teeth being adapted to snugly fit transv-vversely its respective perforation andthe other` of said teeth being of smaller seetionalA dimensions to accommodate shrink? age 1n the lm and actuating means for*l said shuttle and teeth. 32. In mechanism for moving lm pro-c` vided'with perforations upon its longitudi-f nal edges, a shuttle provided with oppof sit'ely arranged pairs of teeth adapted to engage opposite perforations in the respective margins of the film, one of said pairs of teeth being adapted to snugly t trans versely their respective perforations, and the other of` said pairs' of teeth vbeing of smaller sectional dimensions to accommo-y date shrinkage in the lml and one pair of said teeth adapted to be moved away from` f the opposite pair after entering said 33.111 mechanism for moving perforated lm, areciprocable shuttle, a vertically disposed vibratory pitman fulcrumed thereon and movable therewith, ,a crank engaging one end of said 'pitman adapted to vibrate the latter and raise and lower the same, an arm on said shuttle pivoted to move transversely thereto toward and away from the film, a horizontally disposed pair of teeth securedto said arm and movable therewith,

n, substantially T-shaped supporting member pivoted on said arm and capable of a rocking motion independent thereof, teeth projectingv 4from the cross-piece of said member 1n vertical alinement. with said first lmentioned teeth, and a llink pivotallyf aaeaeeo arm of said shuttle pivoted tormove transversely thereto toward and away from the film, a horzontally'disposed pair ofl teeth Vsecured to said arm and movable therewith, a substantially T-shaped supporting memf ber 'pivoted on said arm and capable cfa f rocking motion independent thereof, teeth "projecting from the cross piece of said memberl in 'vertical alinement with said- "'first mentioned teeth, anda link operav jacent portionV of said pitman..

Y, 35. -Inmechanismfor moving perforated film, a reciprocableshuttle, `a vertically disposed vibratory pitman fulcrumed thereon and movable therewith, a crank engaging :q Aone end of said pltman adapted to vibrate y.

the latter and raise andlower the same, an,

arm on' said shuttle pivoted to move transilm, a horizontally disposed ber pivoted on said arm and capable of a rocking motion independent thereof, teethprojecting from the cross piece ofl said memf ber in vertical alinement with saidrst' mentioned-teeth, and a link pivoted 'at one end. to said member and provided with aL end engaged' by a-pin onslot atdts opposite said pitman. l

Signed at Chicago, Cook county, Illinois,

this 11 day of February," 1915. v l

Witnesses:

' E.,K.ILUNDY, Jr., l

Wm .HAROLD Eremita/IAN.

tively oonnectingsaid member with tho-adp@ l I versely thereto toward andA awayirom theA f air of teeth, secured to said arm andimova letherewith," a substantially Tfshaped supporting mem-- ALBERT s; HOWELL. 

